House Speaker Mike Johnsons, R-La., said Wednesday he will look at all available avenues should Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle buck calls for her resignation following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
He reportedly said earlier Wednesday he will be forming a special House task force to investigate the attempted assassination at a rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump’s right ear was bloodied by a bullet fired from suspected shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who also killed a rally attendee and injured two others before being gunned down by a Secret Service sniper.
"We’re looking at all those options right now," Johnson told The Hill when asked if Congress had any recourse, including impeachment, if Cheatle refuses to resign. "But the first thing is to stand up the task force to get down to the real facts."
In a speech to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday night, Johnson said the House "is conducting an immediate and thorough investigation of these tragic events and that work has already begun."
Johnson, who has joined a chorus of lawmakers calling on Cheatle to resign, said a special House task force, which will be formed Monday and include Democrats and Republicans, reduces procedural hurdles and will have subpoena authority, The Hill reported.
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability subpoenaed Cheatle to appear at a hearing Monday. The House Committee on Homeland Security and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee also have launched investigations. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote a letter Monday asking Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to hold a hearing with testimony from Cheatle, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and FBI Director Christopher Wray.